Surgery with curative intent is the standard of care for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (National Comprehensive Cancer Network, NCCN, Guidelines, http://www.nccn.org). However, even after successful surgery and with histologically negative lymph nodes, 20-30% of stage I NSCLC patients will recur. While adjuvant chemotherapy can improve survival in patients with stage II or IIIA disease, its benefit in stage I patients is controversial.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art for the development of biomarkers that can identify stage I lung cancer patients at high risk of recurrence who may benefit from adjuvant therapy.